Ceramics Ceramics is the art of making pottery or working with clay. Clay is naturally formed by the erosion or breaking down of the earth's surface. Found worldwide it is primarily made up of hydrated silicates of alumina. This is why raw clay can be found in creek beds and wet areas. Clay is plastic in nature and can easily be molded into forms. Blended clays are known as clay bodies. In choosing a clay body, there are three basic considerations: Firing Temperature, Texture, and Color & Glaze Response.

TYPES OF CLAYBODIES: Clay bodies are made up of many different kinds of clay, however some of the most common clay bodies are: Earthenware: Low fire clay that is usually reddish brown, gray, or white in color. It works well with throwing on the wheel and hand building because it is smooth and porous. This is what we will be using during ceramics. Stoneware: Higher firing clay than Earthenware, in the middle range, porous clay that can be used for hand building and throwing. This is usually groggier than Earthenware clay. It is a little more expensive and glazes are harder to control. Some stoneware clay bodies as well as glazes work better fired in a gas kiln to reach higher temperatures.

Porcelain: Middle range to high range of firing, smooth in texture, and white in color. This type of clay works better with wheel thrown or casted from a mold, but because the clay body is so thin it is very hard to work with on the wheel. This clay body is also much more expensive. Fire Clay: Highest firing clay commonly used for insulating brick, hard firebrick, and kiln furniture. Firing of this clay takes a special gas kiln.

STAGES OF CLAY: Before you can have a finished clay project, the body of clay must go through the following 5 stages slowly to mature the clay. STAGE #1 - GREENWARE: Clay that has not been fired. In this stage clay can always be melted down and re-worked for usable clay. In the greenware stage as clay begins to dry out it goes through 3 stages before the clay body can be fired. Wet Clay: In this stage clay can be easily manipulated and formed.

Leatherhard: In this stage the clay begins to dry out, leaving the body flexible and tough. As the clay dries out, you will notice the color turn lighter. You can’t easily smooth pieces of clay together, however you may use the slip and score method. It may be easier to work with larger pieces once they have dried out a little. Bone Dry: In this stage, clay is much more fragile as the moisture is drawn out of the clay body. Piece can easily break, especially if not properly attached. You will not be able to attach pieces back together once the piece is completely dried out. When the clay piece feels room temperature it is ready for the first fire. Once your piece is bone dry follow this procedure: Sand or smooth your piece as well as sign or initial it. Place it on the table by the kiln to be fired.

STAGE #2 - BISQUE FIRE: The first fire your piece will go through, roughly about 1900 degrees at the hottest point it will mature and harden the clay body. This fire takes roughly 24 hours from start to finish as it slowly heats and cools your piece. STAGE #3 - BISQUE WARE: Ware that has been bisque fired and ready to be painted or glazed. Once your piece has been fired, paint it with acrylic paint to be finished or glaze it to be fire again. Acrylic painted ware does not get re-fired, the piece is done once the paint dries. Be sure to follow all glazing and painting procedures.

STAGE #4 - GLAZE FIRE: The second and last fire your glazed piece will need to go through. This fire is a little cooler, about 1600 degrees yet still hot enough to melt and fuse the glass silicates in the glaze. This fire also takes about 2 days before the ware is cool enough to safely unload the kiln. STAGE #5 - GLAZE WARE: Fired glazed ware.

General Clay Techniques: Joining pieces together: When joining pieces together in the leather-hard clay stage always remember to score (scratch up the surface) and apply slip (watery clay). Pieces may fall off it not properly attached. Make sure to smooth clay all around joined pieces. When a piece is complete, let the piece slowly dry out to avoid cracking. You may want to cover the piece with a loose plastic bag for a day or so first. Then remove the bag to let it finish drying out. To prevent warping and pieces from blowing up try to get all areas the same thickness of no more than 1 inch. Try to keep from making air pockets as you put clay pieces together. To insure your clay does not dry out from day to day, wrap it up in a plastic sack tightly around the form. If you clay piece is a little dry, wrap a wet paper towel around the form prior to putting a bag around it.

Mask: A mask is an object normally worn on the face and typically for protection, disguise, performance, entertainment or in some cultures for ceremonial use. Some masks may even tell a story about who the mask was fitted for.

Clay Mask Unit Learning Targets: 1.) The artist can create a unique and creative clay sculptural mask using hand-building modeling techniques and an common element (wind, earth, fire, water). 2.)Size min. The artist can create a form with a min. size of 4 inches in diameter and 8 inches tall. 3.)Craftsmanship: The artist can create a final piece that is smooth and free of clay burrs and rough edges. Any area thicker than 1 inch was also hollowed out to prevent the piece from blowing up. 4.)Finishing: The artist can glaze or paint with acrylic paint to give the mask a finished look. Time and care went into finishing this piece. 5.) Reflection: The artist can critique their final project on their blog including all writing information and photo. (Explain what you created and which element you incorporated, what materials were used, what elements of art were used, what you learned, strengths, and areas for improvement).